Flying insects in the southern Atlantic Forest: striking biodiversity and diverse temporal demographic patterns

LIJTMAER, DARIO A.; PEREZ, KATE; RATNASINGHAM, SUJEEVAN ; DEWAARD, JEREMY; TUBARO, PABLO L.; BUKOWSKI, BELÉN; HANISCH, PRISCILA E.; HEBERT, PAUL

Kruger National Park

Congreso; 7th International Barcode of Life Conference; 2017

Biodiversity Institute of Ontario

Background: The Atlantic Forest in South America is one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on Earth, harboring around 7% of the species of our planet. Because this biodiversity hotspot possesses high rates of endemism and has been extremely disturbed, it is a priority for conservation efforts. Arthropods are good indicators of biodiversity and ecosystem integrity of forests. Therefore, a comprehensive assessment of their species composition through time and space is crucial for biomonitoring. DNA barcoding can support this activity. In the context of the Global Malaise Program, Argentina deployed a Malaise trap in Misiones province, in the southern Atlantic Forest, and insects were collected weekly for a year starting in February 2013 to evaluate local diversity and patterns of temporal succession. Results: Overall, 75,589 specimens were collected (67,565 barcode sequences recovered). These represented 8,753 BINs (proxy for species), of which 81% had not been previously barcoded. Diptera was the most abundant order (76%), followed by Hemiptera (7%) and Lepidoptera (5%). We assessed the temporal distribution of the 38 most abundant BINs, which constitute conspicuous components of this ecosystem and identified 6 clusters of BINs with similar time series distributions. Each of these clusters included representatives from different orders, showing that demographic patterns through time are not order-specific. We also analyzed which environmental variables (temperature, precipitation, wind speed) can best explain the abundance distribution of each BIN. Significance: Thousands of new species were added to the DNA barcode library. In addition, we dramatically increased access to biodiversity information for this region (currently GBIF only includes 321 species of insects in the area). Based on these results, the possible role of these BINs as biological indicators for this ecosystem can be further investigated, supporting both biomonitoring and the assessment of changes in community structure due to ongoing climate change and environmental disturbance